


Tales Of A Spotted Witch And A Cursed Cat

by Dictatorofbutts



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Awkward Sexual Situations, Cat tendencies, Demonic Possession, F/M, Magical Creatures, Rating May Change, Witch Curses, Witchcraft, black cat's curse, hawk moth is a demon, miraculous witch shop au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-04
Updated: 2016-08-15
Packaged: 2018-07-12 07:02:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 17,754
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7090690
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dictatorofbutts/pseuds/Dictatorofbutts
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After a playful conjuring at a sleepover goes wrong, Adrien finds himself growing a tail and a nice pair of cat ears. Meanwhile, Chloé gets possessed by a demon causing Paris a hell of trouble. Luckily a witch named Ladybug knows exactly what to do. Well, not exactly. To be honest, she doesn't know what to do at all - but she's willing to help. </p><p>To join Adrien on his journey into the world of witchcraft, you just need to kiss this frog. (No, please don't. That's gross.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A chapter in which everything goes wrong and Chloé probably needs professional help

**Author's Note:**

> Spam my [tumblr](https://rest-in-agreste.tumblr.com/ask/) if you have questions or drew stuff from this fic.
> 
> Everybody lean back, grab your popcorn and enjoy.

_"The energy that witches work with, the energy that makes magic,  
that powers _spells _, fuels rituals, and crafts a Witch,_  
is the energy of the Divine.   
And the energy of the Divine is love."

— Phyllis Curott, Witch Crafting

**A chapter in which everything goes wrong and Chloé probably needs professional help**

This was a bad idea. Adrien knew from the very beginning that his rotten luck would cause him to suffer.  And that’s exactly what was about to happen.  
  
But like every other story this one has a start – well, actually this is the start, but I mean like a start start, you know? Oh, kids, storytelling is hard. Maybe I should think twice about becoming a stripper – Anyways back to Adrien.  
  
It was his first sleepover with friends besides the forced sleepovers at Chloé’s when their fathers had important meetings. Imagine his first sleepover! At the age of 16! How crazy is that? It took Adrien three weeks of constant video chatting with his father to get the allowance.

 

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

  
Nino was his first and best friend at school. The boy thankfully looked over the impacts being homeschooled had on Adrien. Originally planned was a boy’s night – because no male teenager would ever call it a sleepover – at Nino’s. Movies, junk food and trying to stay up late.  
  
But just as they planned the evening at lunch Alya had linked herself in the conversation. Since Adrien started going to school half of a year ago, the girl had become his third best friend right after Nino and Chloé.  
  
Given the stubborn girl she is, Alya decided that she was definitely joining their best friends boy’s night. And then Chloé decided to eavesdrop. Adrien on a sleepover with a girl that wasn’t her? Impossible. Long story short – the blonde girl demanded to switch locations and organized the sleepover to her home.  
  
And this is how they ended up in Chloé’s room. Knowing Chloé since they were three years old Adrien was no stranger to the private bedroom of his childhood friend but Nino and Alya were quite surprised - or rather annoyed? - by the amount of gold in this room. Two heartbreaking romances and half of a buffet later the boys practically begged for something to do that didn’t involve girlish things.  
  
The whole day Chloé had complained about some weird book about witchcraft being sent to her mother and she was sure it was some kind of a sick joke since her mom died when she was little. Remembering the book Alya insisted on trying out some spells from it. Alya and Nino gathered everything they needed. “Witchcraft doesn’t exist so what can go wrong?” she had said after thirty minutes of discussion with Chloé.  
  
The answer to Alya’s question was simple, everything.  
  
Yes kids, here they were. Sitting in a circle with the strange book in the middle of it in a darkened room only lightened up by candles. This wasn’t what Adrien associated with candles. The only fantasy he had involving a room full of candles was the fantasy of his first time with his significant other he still had to find – sue him for being a romantic. On the other hand, he believed that some kind of magic existed, like spirits and so on. Adrien believed in it since his mother left them and was strongly believed to be dead.  
  
No wonder this occult setting was giving his stomach an uncomfortable twist. “This is a bad idea,” he stated his opinion loud and clear for everyone to hear. But as always Alya didn’t listen to him, neither did Chloé – as if she ever really listened to him – or Nino for that matter.  
  
“Let’s try to conjure a demon,” Nino said pointing at the conjuration for Astaroth which was – just to mention – one page before the conjuration for Lucifer. “Sounds cool and the circle is relatively easy to copy.”  
  
‘Oh yeah, go for a probably high classed demon,’ Adrien thought kneading his hands. Was this what normal teenagers did on a sleepover? ‘Sounds _totally safe_ for beginners.’  
  
“So,” Alya said stretching the word as far as possible after studying the pages for several minutes. “Does anyone understands Latin or is able to read it out loud?”  
   
Almost instantly all eyes were on Adrien.  Being a homeschooled kid of a rich designer really never sucked more.  “Why are you looking at me like that? I don’t sp–”  
  
“Adrikins, I know you’ve learned Latin,” Chloé chimed, clinging to his arm like a dying man clang to his life. “And Spanish and Chinese if we’re at it.”  
  
“I hate to agree with her but we know that, too,” Alya said, earning a high-pitched snort from Chloé.  
  
“I still think this is a bad idea.” The model sighed and took the book in his hands, feeling the leather of the binding. The pages were turning yellow in the corners and the text looked like it had been written by hand. “It says that the thing – um, the demon is summoned to grant you a wish,” he read.  To be honest, he only understood half of what was written in it but enough to know that you started off with the chant – “ _Astaroth, Ador, Cameso, Valluerituf Mareso, Lodir_ ,…” – and ended by telling your name and your desire.  
  
As he chanted on he imagined to feel some kind of electricity in the air but that was just what he imagined. “Amen,” he finished off and took a deep breath. “My name is Adrien Agreste and I want – ” Wait, what did he want?  
  
“ – some pussy,” Nino interrupted elbowing his best friend.  
  
As soon as the words were out, Adrien felt a shudder running through his body. The insides of his nose started to prickle.  
  
“Ni _no_!” Alya smacked him hard on the shoulder.  
  
“Guys?”  
  
Nino shrugged. “What? He deserves it!”  
  
“Guys?” Adrien whined again as a sharp pain went from his ears to his scalp.  A shiver ran down his spine. Wait, he was quite sure his spine should already have ended a few seconds ago. Why was that feeling still going on?  
  
All faces turned to the whining model. “Help!”  
  
Chloé gasped. “Adrikins…?!”  
  
“Holy shit,” Alya exhaled dramatically. “Pinch me, Nino, I think I’m dreaming – OUCH not that hard, stupid!”  
  
Adrien no longer had a grasp on what was going on. Why was everyone staring at him like he had grown a second head? Wait, had he grown a second head? Maybe he had. Leaning back on his arms he looked at the mirror on Chloé’s ceiling. What he saw made his blood run cold.  
  
At first, everything looked normal. His face was still round, his eyebrows perfectly shaped, and his body still in a human form – except that he had some _extra features_. Two fluffy cat ears rested on top of his head – a touch confirmed that they were indeed covered in fluffy fur – and through the bird view of the mirror he could see a furry tail – furry, too – snaking out of the waistband of his jeans. But the most outstanding thing was his eyes. Fully green with slit pupils.  
  
In shock, he pointed at his face and gave his friends a deadpanned look. “This is a joke, right?”  
  
When Nino shook his head hell broke loose. _How_ exactly was he going to explain this to his father? He was going to kill him. Media would be going to kill him. Adrien wasn’t a person to easily cry in front of others but his whole life depended on his image in the eyes of his father. To Gabriel Agreste, acne would already have been a catastrophe but transforming into a human with cat features would be the apocalypse. Adrien rested his forehead on his knees, hoping that this was just some kind of weird dream while Nino tried to comfort his best bud.  
  
Meanwhile, Alya grabbed the book and tried to look for some remedy, almost ripping out the pages in the process. “Shit, fuck,” she cursed. Orange locks whipped the air as someone grabbed the book from her hands.  
  
That someone was blonde, skinny and had perfectly manicured nails. Chloé. Her eyes glaring at Alya like she wanted to kill her. There was something in her eyes that definitely wasn’t human.  
  
_"Yes, Hawk Moth."_

  
“Nino, Adrien,” Alya said slowly while crawling back. Adrien had been right, this was a bad idea. “Something’s wrong with Chloé. We need to leave _right now_!”

 

**Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  this is where chapter one ended in the first version  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ**

 

Despite her actions, Chloé knew that Adrien was uncomfortable having her near but that didn’t stop her from clutching his arm as hard as humanly possible. She wasn’t sure how to feel about the whole summoning a demon thing going on in her room. The company was horrible and she didn’t understand how Adrien could spend time with these people but she tolerated them.  
  
That didn’t stop the jealousy from rising as she saw the way Adrien acted towards other girls during the day. The girls obviously liked him, he was a handsome model. A really handsome model. Why couldn’t he just like her? She was all he needed. Maybe if he wasn’t that handsome he would realize – no that was crazy.  
  
As soon as the thought crossed her mind, Adrien started changing and growing catlike features. “Adrikins,” she gasped upon seeing her previous thoughts come true.

_Poor soul_ , a voice rang in her head. _Unrequited love hurts, I know that my dear. Look at him now. Do you like what I did?_

‘No,’ Chloé thought trying to resist the warm feeling that came with the voice.  ‘That is not what I wanted.’

_But I don’t think that will stop the women from noticing his attractive body,_ the voice continued. _My name is Hawk Moth and I can make it so that all the women stay away from him. Would you like that, dear?_

Chloé shook her head. But the words tasted like sugar on her tongue.

_You’d be the only woman for him. Doesn’t that sound wonderful, my love?_

That sick bastard was playing with her mind and you know what was even worse? She was enjoying it. Those pretty images of her being with Adrien burned into her mind. ‘Yes, that sounds wonderful.’

_I will help you and in return, you’ll have to give shelter to me. Is that okay with you?_

Her eyes narrowed and the glossy lips curled into an evil smile. ‘Yes, Hawk Moth.’

_Excellent. First, bring me that book; we’ll need it in the future. Would you do that for me, my dear?_

“Of course, Hawk Moth,” Chloé whispered as her body reached out for the book that was currently in Alya’s hands. She felt out of control while still being in control. The sugary warmth from her tongue spread through her body as soon as she held the leather-clad book in her hands.

 

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

 

Alya didn’t know what it was but something about Chloé screamed danger. Usually, the blonde wasn’t that much of a threat even though she tended to be annoying – but this wasn’t Chloé. “We need to leave _right now_!”  
  
Nino who had been sitting next to Adrien spread an arm around the boy in order to protect him.  
  
“Nino, get Adrien and _get the fuck out_ ,” Alya ordered crawling backward herself.  
  
That was an order Nino didn’t need to hear twice. “Come on, dude,” he said and pulled the almost catatonic Adrien to his feet. “We need to get out of here, bro,” he tried to calm the blonde. “That bitch’s gone crazy!”  
  
He somehow managed to get Adrien out of the door and out of the hotel as well.

_Don’t worry_ , the voice calmed Chloé. _We’ll get him sooner or later. First, we need to focus on taking down your rivals._

 

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

 

Half of an hour later the shaking mess once called Adrien Agreste was sitting in an alley far away from the Burgoise-Hotel. Nino and Alya were still out of breath sitting next to him. Any other day they probably would have laughed at the image of three teenagers running around in pajamas at four in the morning but things were different right now.  
  
“You need to breathe, buddy,” Nino tried to calm Adrien. “Calm down.”  
  
“How am I supposed to calm down, Nino?” The boy jumped to his feet, surprised by his new strength that almost sent him flying. His hands balled into fists and something pricked his hand – nice, now he was growing claws, too. “If you haven’t noticed, I am a monster!”  
  
“Adrien,” Alya said, trying to soothe him.  
  
“That’s entirely your fault,” Adrien continued in his rage. “I knew it was a bad idea! I knew it!”  
  
Someone opened the window and shouted for the kids to shut up. At the same time, a slap filled the alley. A red handprint glowed on the side of Adrien’s cheek where Alya had hit him.  
  
“Calm _the fuck_ down! I think I know who can help us.” Her voice was merely a hiss, holding up something in her hand. A card? Yes, it was a card. A ladybug sign and the words “little witch shop” were printed on it. Alya huffed. “It fell out of the book after Chloé grabbed it. I’ll tell you what we’ll do, we’re going to get to my place, get a few hours of sleep and try to find this fucking witch who can turn you – and maybe Chloé – back to normal in no time. She’s the one who sold it, so she’ll be able to turn you back.”  
  
Adrien didn’t even notice that they were walking towards Alya’s home. Damn, girls could be tricky. But still – “How am I supposed to sleep?”  
  
Nino cleared his throat. “And what about your siblings?” Like hell, he would explain his best friend’s condition to Alya’s younger sisters. Nope. No way in hell.  
  
“Don’t sweat it,” Alya said, grabbing her key from the pocket of her pajama pants and opening the door.  “The older ones are at their friend’s house and my parents have taken the younger one on their little love trip. We should be alone for now.” Kicking her shoes off Alya went straight for the couch and fell face forward onto it. “And,” her muffled voice rang from under the pillow. “I don’t care if you sleep or not, Agreste, but we can’t show up at a witch’s house in the middle of the night. I don’t wanna get cursed too. You either sleep or make yourself useful and search for the right address online. We’ll go there in a few hours.” And with that, she was off. Her whole body relaxed and a light snoring filled the room instantly.  
  
Still impatiently wiggling Adrien turned to Nino. His best friend just shrugged and slumped down right next to Alya. “She’s right, you know.”  
  
“I know but,” Adrien responded, his shoulders hunched forward. A slight blush crossed his face. “I don’t know how to lie down with this “ – he pointed at his tail – ” thing.”  
  
A pillow was thrown by Nino, who whispered a “curl up” and joined Alya on a first class trip to dreamland.    
  
The blonde picked up the pillow and looked to the armchair. It was big enough for him to curl up on. But Adrien usually slept on his back which wasn’t possible with his new appendage growing out of his spine. Eventually, he did what was possible and lay down on his side with his knees to his chest.  
  
Now that he was finally able to relax, Adrien started to notice his changes. A hand wandered to his backside and touched the furry tail. Adrien shuddered and made a mental note that it was sensitive. Second he touched his ears – yup, also sensitive as fuck.   
  
There was something fascinating about them. Not only his normal ears were working perfectly fine but his new ones did so too. Adrien could hear Alya’s and Nino’s combined snoring from the couch, but not only that – a little rhythmic sound which he later on recognized as their heartbeats. Adrien closed his eyes in concentration.  
  
There was more to hear. The dripping of water from the sink in the bathroom above, the woman next door hissing at her boyfriend because he was snoring too loud and a dog barking about three blocks away. Great, school would be going to be fun with these ears. Okay, he probably wouldn’t even go to school in his given condition.  
  
“Just my bad luck,” he whispered before joining their friends in dreamland.  
  
Hopefully, whoever they were going to visit was, would be able to lift his curse and also change Chloé back to normal (or at least her default state). Adrien was sure that his childhood friend was going through something supernatural as well, judging by the way she acted earlier.  
  
Both of them needed help – maybe Chloé even more than he did.  



	2. Please don’t sexually harass the frogs – thank you!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh kids, please don't be shocked. I put chapter one and two together because chapters are going to be longer. 
> 
> I got a betabug, ThisNothingInTheMiddle.  
> My betabug is the cutest.

 

**Please don’t sexually harass the frogs – thank you!**

  
If there is one thing I hate about early summer mornings, it’s the birds. Those feathery little creatures that start singing the aria of their kind in unholy hours. Adrien started to feel my pain when his new ears gladly welcomed the high pitched sounds. Chirps echoed in his skull.  
  
“Ugh,” he groaned and pressed his palms against his eyes.  
  
Adrien’s back hurt. This wasn’t the luxurious bed he was used to. Now that his memories slowly came back he remembered the last night. The sheet he grabbed yesterday itched and the scent of different humans stuck to it. It seemed like not only his ears but his nose had improved, too. “Oh great,” Adrien murmured. “Just great.”  
  
The model rose to his feet since sleeping wasn’t an option. The noises were too loud and the different smells hurt his sensitive nose - one smell standing out more than the others – the smell of male arousal. Adrien didn’t even question why he knew that smell. It wouldn’t surprise him if the curse had somehow activated some kind of smell-dictionary in his head.  
  
“Nino,” he hissed.  Adrien started poking his best friend in the cheek. “Nino, get up!” Another poke and a pinch. “Buddy, get up!”  
  
“Adrien… dude…” Nino’s eyes fluttered open. Said DJ was currently curled up against Alya. “What’s wrong?”  
  
“You should probably get up and – take care of something,” Adrien mumbled blushing a little bit – how embarrassing was it to smell your best friends arousal?   
  
He knew that Nino was clingy – he’d been Nino’s victim more than once. And inhaling his secret crush’s smell probably was too much for the poor boy. Nino seemed to notice too as he rubbed himself against Alya’s thigh while stretching. His eyes blew wide and he shot up like a bee had stung him. “Shit!”  
  
Alya got a rough awakening when her bottom hit the ground while Nino shot into the bathroom and turned on the shower – doing whatever he needed to do. Any other time Adrien would’ve found that straight up hilarious but given the fact that he could smell what Nino was doing, grossed him out. Reaching out for one of the apples on the small table near the couch, he tried to concentrate on smelling the fruit.  
  
“What the heck, _Nino_?!” The brunette rubbed her hurting butt and shot an accusing glare in the direction Nino had stormed off. Shortly before noticing Adrien’s weird behavior. “And what’s wrong with you?”  
  
‘Oh, nothing,’ he thought sarcastically, trying to ignore the musky smell that got harder with every second. ‘Harder? Seriously, brain - puns, right now?’ Not that he didn’t appreciate a good pun but right now just wasn’t the time to pun.  
  
“Hn?” Alya raised an eyebrow.  
  
“It’s just – I never realized how good apples smelled…?”

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

About an hour later everyone was sitting at coffee table. The boys tried to avoid eye-contact with one another while Alya sipped her coffee and googled several variations of “Ladybug’s little witch shop”. What she didn’t notice the night before was that the card contained no address or names. Just the front and a blank back.  
  
“You guys, feel free to get yourself breakfast,” Alya said after Nino’s stomach started to growl. “We’ve got enough food in this house to feed half of Africa.”  
  
Adrien knew because he could smell it. He knew that the yogurt in the back of her fridge was long expired. The model got up anyway. Food sounded good. Food sounded safe.  
  
Nino followed him to the kitchen. Unlike Adrien, the DJ knew his way around the Cesaire household. He and Alya had been a close friend since the girl had joined his class. Opening several cupboards revealed more than twenty boxes of cornflakes. Nino got the milk while Adrien prepared the bowls. “Hey, dude,” the DJ whispered suddenly but to Adrien, it was loud enough to make his ears ring once again. His ears seemed to be more sensitive towards male voices than female voices.  
  
“What is it?”  
  
“How did you know,” Nino started and blushed furiously. “about the thing _before_?”  
  
“I smelt it” Adrien answered honestly, tapping his nose and taking a deep breath. “Can still smell it,” he added with a disgusted face.  
  
“Gross,” the DJ commented, fiddling with his spoon.  
  
Adrien gave a dry laugh. “You have no idea, buddy.” Taking his bowl, he made his way back to Alya.  
  
Said girl was at her wit’s end. “Nothing,” she said dramatically flopping onto the couch – Adrien made sure to stay away from it because The Smell™ still stuck to it. “If he or she sells stuff then he or she must have an online shop, right? But I couldn’t find a thing!”  
  
The card fell to the ground and Adrien picked it up before discretely retreating to the other side of the room where the opened window was. Fresh air probably was the best for his nose. He just drank the milk, learning that it tasted better than the soft cornflakes. Leaning against the wall he put his bowl on the windowsill to study the card. Adrien turned it over in his hand.  
  
Printed side – blank side – printed side – blank side – printed side –  
  
“Woah.” Adrien gripped the card tighter. “Look at this!”

_In case of side-effects, turn around._

Big letters in a neat handwriting appeared on the blank side of the page. As if to test the sentences Adrien turned around and looked out of the window. Some kids on their bike drove down the street. He could hear them giggling and even though he knew they couldn’t see him, he moved out of sight. Why didn’t it work? Maybe if he –   
  
Alya stopped him, putting a hand on his as she watched the card with amazement. “That wasn’t there when I had it,” she gaped.  
  
“Yeah,” the model said, “I know. It just appeared out of nowhere when I played with the card.” He flipped the card once again as a demonstration not expecting what came next.  
  
The logo on the usually painted side changed. Suddenly the card was tinted green and blue. Brown lines cut through the more vibrant colors. It almost looked like –  
  
“A map!” It was Nino who recognized the shapes and colors first. “That’s a forest and those are its paths.” When none of them seemed to identify the places, Nino jumped in again. One of his fingers pointed to the small red spot that almost wasn’t visible. “Look, that’s where we are and we need to go there.” His finger moved to the white spot the same size as the red one.   
  
Tight arms wrapped around the DJ as Alya hugged him. “Nino, you’re a genius!”  
  
“I know, I know,” Nino grinned, a hand rubbing his neck.  
  
“Where’s that forest?” The card still in his hands, Adrien squinted his eyes but only knowing his mansion and bigger cities in which he had been to model, he had no clue where that place could be.   
  
Tapping her chin and tilting her head, Alya suggested, “Looks like Meudon Forest.”  
  
Hit with sudden enthusiasm, Adrien sprung away from the wall and made his way to the door. “Let’s go!”  
  
“Adrien, you’re still in your pajamas,” Alya pointed out.  
  
“Dude, we know you’re a model and look hella fine in whatever you wear,” Nino began, putting a hand on Adrien’s shoulder, “but please get dressed first.”

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

Getting dressed took longer than Adrien anticipated. Even though he always had the most important stuff like his phone and wallet with him, his bag and change of clothes had stayed at Chloé’s.   
  
A half naked Adrien stood in the bathroom on the second level waiting for a pair of casual clothes. He endured Alya’s suggestions through the closed door to ‘just wear one of her dresses’ until Nino finally found a shirt in Alya’s closet that would fit Adrien. They borrowed a pair of jeans from the new boyfriend of Alya’s mother and grabbed a beanie from her younger sisters once they realized that the cat ears could draw attention. While closing his belt Adrien watched his reflection in the mirror. The black fur of his tail – which was curled around his torso – stood in heavy contrast to his light skin. Same thing with his hair and the new ears. The fur was silky and flawless as if they morphed into fitting his model image. Both appendages twitched as he stared at them. As weird as it was, you could get used to the sight.  
  
Turning the water on Adrien noticed that not only his body had taken the looks of a cat but his brain had adapted certain cat reflexes as well. As soon as his hand came in contact with water and splashed it on his face, he jumped back. Glaring at the sink as if it had offended him, Adrien couldn’t help but hiss at it.  
  
A knock at the door drew his attention back to the real world. “You okay in there, buddy?”  
  
Adrien grabbed the shirt and quickly pulled it over his head. A few movements adjusted the black beanie on his head before he got out of the bathroom. But not without sparing one last glare at the offending transparent liquid. “Yeah, I’m ready.”

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

They took the metro at Bastille. Adrien choked on the smell that suddenly surrounded him. If you thought smelling Nino this morning had been disgusting then this was even more of a catastrophe. Several kinds of deodorant dominated the smell together with cheap perfume and old sweat. Junk food, male musk, and fumes joined the dominant smells. Adrien positioned himself between Alya and Nino as shields from the smell.  No need to mention that due to his new condition public transportation became a no-no for his senses.  
  
After they changed trains at Invalides for the direction of Chaville Velizy they had to stand, which was even worse. First, there was a baby whose diapers desperately needed to be changed. Honestly, how could no one else smell that? It was like someone set his nose hair on fire. Second, it was full. Like really, really full. People were pressed against each other as if trying to become one big human sandwich.  
  
Another thing the model noticed was that clothes just weren’t for him. They itched and made it impossible to breathe properly – which wasn’t a bad thing if you were surrounded by dozens of disgusting smells. Hoping that the torture would soon end, Adrien leaned back against Alya.  
  
  
Paris is surrounded by two big forests. One of them is called Meudon. Unlike the second one, it isn’t visited as much. No children’s theme parks were located in it but there were a lot of oak and chestnut trees. Oh, and a lot of small ponds. The trees weren’t as neat as the other ones. It just wasn’t a tourist magnet. Only a few joggers once in a while and some tourists chose to come there.  Chaville Velizy was a small station red brick stone house near Meudon Forest, only about 27 minutes away from it.  
  
The train had gotten remarkably emptier the closer they got to the station but regardless of that Adrien ran out as soon as the doors opened. Alya and Nino had problems to trying to keep up with him. For once Adrien was grateful that no one knew him and the station wasn’t crowded. Because as soon as he pushed open the doors that lead outside he realized that his strength had increased. The door swung open, hit the end and the glass cracked before shattering to the ground.  
  
“Dude,” Nino took a breath, looking Adrien straight in the eye. “ _Dude_!”  
  
The heads of a few strangers turned around to look at Adrien in shock before he ran off even faster than before.

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

One thing Adrien learned about the forest was that nature smelled a thousand times better than the city. The smell of the city faded into the distance and made place for the smell of trees, moss and – simply nature.  
  
“Aren’t we going to talk about the fact that you just destroyed a door with your inhuman strength, dude?”  
  
Adrien had always lived caged up in the mansion. Now his brain added all the new, unnamed scents to its dictionary of smells. Like that bird up in that tree. His feathers gave away the warm smell of a caring mother – she probably had children in her nest – but they also carried the smell of rain and dirt.  
  
“No? Okay, buddy. Go on, do your thing – Keep staring at that bird.”  
  
The small black eyes seemed to follow Adrien’s movement in an almost threatening way. What did it want from him? Did he do something wrong? Did this little bird really think it could threaten him? He felt a hiss rise in his throat but the bird just mocked him with a chirp. The boy growled, his ears flat against his scalp and his body tensing as –  
  
 “ADRIEN!”  
  
 – he pounced three meters high onto the branch, catching the small bird with his claws and – much to his shame – his mouth. Luckily his fangs weren’t sharp enough to hurt the animal but it still left dozens of feathers in his mouth. Adrien was in a state of shock as he realized what he just did.  
  
“Adrien, no, spit it out,” Alya yelled putting a hand on her hip. She looked so tiny from above which made her nearly as frightening as she was.  
  
Adrien wished for a hole in the ground to swallow him. As if that wasn’t embarrassing and gross enough, his body seemed to remember that he was allergic to feathers. Adrien did as he was said – he spat out the bird along with some bodily fluids from his mouth and nose as he sneezed. The abused animal landed right in Alya’s hands.  
  
She let it fall to the ground with a disgusted “ _Ew_ ” before she started to shoot daggers with her eyes. “Adrien, get down!”  
  
The cat in Adrien grinned. He did what she’d said. His tail twitched behind him as he crouched on the branch. Nope, he wasn’t going to come down anytime soon.  
  
Alya’s brows furrowed and her head got impossibly red. “Adrien Agreste,“ she said in a low and scary voice, “ _don’t_ make me come up there and beat you to a pulp!”

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

If there was one thing Adrien knew about girls – and frankly he didn’t know much – it was that girls could be scary. Like Alya.  
  
An angry Alya could be your death. She wouldn’t kill you the fast way, no. She’d pick at your skin and slowly pull it off. She’d feed on your screams and let you watch while she licked the blood off her fingers. Then Alya would take a knife only to stab the nonvital parts of your body so you’d suffer but not die yet. After putting salt into your wounds she would turn around and leave you to die.

  
Adrien could be glad that she had only punched him three times – making his arm hurt like he had just been stabbed. Pouting and rubbing his arm he slumped behind his best friends who lead the way, not really sure where to go either.  
  
Two or three bees caught his attention while he followed his friends. They carried the sweet smell of flowers and something he couldn’t tell. Green eyes darted after them.  
  
“Dude,” Nino whispered over his shoulder, careful not to draw Alya’s attention. “Don’t even think about chasing them. _She’ll kill you and leave you here in the woods so no one can find you_.”  
  
Unlike the bird, the bees had his attention for another reason. The buzzing was almost soothing, the smell hypnotic. The additional smell was something human but not human at all. This wasn’t the kind of reaction he had to the bird. His stomach told him to follow them. “I think we need to follow the bees.”  
  
“Follow the bees?” Raising an eyebrow Alya turned around to face Adrien. “Last time I heard something like that I was watching Supernatural,” she deadpanned. “Considering your condition this is pretty much like an episode – just that no one’s died yet.”  
  
“Alya, that’s not funny,” Nino scolded putting a hand on his hip. He nodded in Adrien’s direction with his chin. “And he isn’t even listening.”

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

The house wasn’t visible at first sight. You needed to blink four to five times before it finally blurred out of the gray and black surrounding. But when it appeared it stood out, glowing like the Eiffel Tower in the darkest night. The brown of the wooden house was different than the wood of the trees. Those were dark and cold.  
  
The house was warm and inviting.  Surrounded by colorful flowers, ready to feed the bees and ladybugs. Oh, millions of ladybugs spotted the surrounding, telling him that this was the place he was looking for.  
  
 Adrien took a sniff and was overwhelmed by the sweet smell. Maybe he should ask his father to buy a house in the woods right outside the city after all of this is over? He could spend his holidays there – or rather his rare free days. Maybe they could hire a good gardener or he would read a few books about gardening himself.  
  
“Wow,” Nino gaped as he collided with Adrien’s shoulder.  
  
“Yeah, ‘wow’,” the model agreed.  
  
“Well,” – Alya hit his shoulder and pushed him forward – “Let’s get you back to normal before you start chasing mice.”

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

The door wasn’t locked and Alya didn’t hesitate to enter the shop immediately. Adrien wasn’t sure if what they were doing was legal. They could’ve knocked at least but Alya preferred to act like she was raised in a zoo.  
  
The first step into the darkened room brought a lot of different smells and for the first time, Adrien wasn’t the only to smell them. They weren’t unpleasant. Herbs and the smell of old book combined with the smell of pure nature.  
  
“Hello? Anyone here?” Nino hesitantly followed Alya and Adrien inside. Unlike Adrien and Alya he wasn't sure if this was their destination. It didn't look like a shop from the outside and just judging by a few animals on the wall seemed a little bit naive. “No? Cool.” The tanned boy nervously scratched his neck. “Now we’re breaking into someone’s house. Totally cool.”  
  
The room was as big as their classroom with a doorframe in the back. Two windows worked as sources of light and the rest of the walls were covered in shelves with all sorts of books, boxes, and glasses full of stuff Adrien couldn’t recognize. Two tables in the center of the room had opened books on them. Cauldrons in all different sizes were located under the tables and most likely sold for brewing potions. A leather couch was located by a shelf only filled with books.  
  
Slowly Adrien walked through the shop, his finger grazing over the back of the books, drawing a thin line in the dust. There was a terrarium on one of the shelves with living frogs in it. A small post it was attached to the glass. “Do not kiss the frogs,” Adrien read out loud.  
  
He shrieked as red hair popped over his shoulder and Alya reached for a frog. “Oh, why not?” She pulled a face as she picked up one of them. “Don’t you know what they say about kissing frogs, little frog?” she asked the green creature as if it was able to answer. Something about her behavior told Adrien to run but he stayed. The biggest mistake of his life right after going to that damn sleepover. “Adrien, if you kiss a frog,” – as quick as she was, Alya held up the frog and pressed it to his lips – “it’ll turn into a prince...”  
  
“Hey!” The curtain of the doorframe that hid the other part of the house from them was harshly pulled aside. Strings with cute pearls all pink, white or black gave away a sound just loud enough for Adrien to hear. The head of a young girl popped out. Her cheeks puffed with anger and her (beautiful) blue eyes narrowed. “Don’t kiss the frogs! That’s disgusting!”  
  
“… or a princess,” Alya finished, still pressing the frog to Adrien’s lips as the boy forgot how to breathe. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A few pictures of Meudon Forest [here](http://www.france-voyage.com/visuals/photos/meudon-forest-7731_w600.jpg), [here](http://www.france-voyage.com/visuals/photos/meudon-forest-7732_w600.jpg) and [here](http://static.panoramio.com/photos/large/4503353.jpg) just to form a mental image. Information was taken my local tourist agency. Just imagine the hotel away because that's the first result you get when you google it. I made the effort to look up the stations the kids take. 
> 
> If you have more questions or just want to talk to me - here's my [tumblr](https://rest-in-agreste.tumblr.com/ask/), kids!


	3. Girls are f*cking scary!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhhh, I feel a little writers block coming but don't worry, my children, I'll continue working on this fic.  
> I was so so tempted to leave my betabug's comments in this chapter because they were so on point!

 

**Girls are f*cking scary!**

 

Abort mission, Adrien’s brain yelled. Go home; hide under your blanket until this catastrophe is over. Just get out of there. If you looked closely you could see the alarm lamps going off in Adrien’s head. There was this girl and she was angry and she looked even scarier than Alya.  
  
Her hands were placed on her hips as she angrily stomped over to Alya and took the frog out of her hands. Her long blue pigtails bopped with every step. “Poor Plagg,” she cooed, rubbing his bumpy back in a comforting manner before putting him back in the terrarium. Adrien scrambled out of the way to make that happen. He watched her set down the frog. “Go back to Tikki and the others. I’ll bring you some cheese after this.”  
  
“And now to you,” turning around to Alya, the girl started hissing. Blue eyes mustered Nino and Alya. “How did you find me? Humans are not allowed in here.”  
  
“Our friend got cursed on accident and the book came from this store,” Alya explained pushing back her glasses. She wasn’t scared, unlike Nino and Adrien. Adrien guessed scary girls weren’t as intimidating to other girls than to boys. “We’re looking for the owner of this shop.”  
  
The blue haired girl crossed her arms in front of her chest. “That would be me.”  
  
Adrien gave a surprised sound. From childhood on he had learned that witches were old women with a crooked nose and – all in all ugly. This girl was the opposite of what he had expected – even if he’d only caught a glimpse of her face and was now staring at her backside. Obviously, Nino thought the same because he mumbled a “No way” before slapping his hand over his mouth.  
  
“Well it’s your fault if your friend got cursed,” the witch shrugged and held her staring contest with Alya. “I don’t see how this is my business. Now that we’ve talked about it, I must ask you to leave.”  
  
“No. You sent the book to a teenage girl so you’re basically responsible for everything that happened,” Alya countered. Nino was sure she had a death wish.  
  
“Oh, we’re talking about responsibilities now? Isn’t your kind responsible for the deaths of witches like me? How did you kill them again? By burning or drowning them?” The air seemingly got thinner and Adrien wasn’t sure if he imagined the little thunderbolts between the girls. “I don’t have any responsibilities towards your kind.”  
  
Knowing Alya both boys present knew that shit was about to go down as soon as the blogger opened her mouth. Alya may have a death wish but Adrien and Nino definitely weren’t ready to die yet. The Dj sprung forward and clapped his hands over Alya’s mouth. Adrien sprung to his help. “I have an idea,” Nino said hastily. “You don’t want humans in your shop, right? Look our friend here isn’t really what you would call a human right now. It wasn’t his fault he got cursed.” He gestured towards Adrien who ducked under the glare of the witch, hissing Nino’s name as the boy pulled off the beanie. “How about you help him and we wait outside? Please, we don’t want to cause trouble.”  
  
The witch bit her lip and focused on Adrien, who felt really uncomfortable. His ears drooped. Her cheeks got a little bit pinker as her staring crossed the one minute mark. “Okay,” she finally said dropping her arms. “I’ll help him.” Her hand gestured towards the door as she waited for the other ones to keep their part of the deal.  
  
Adrien shot Nino a glare. ‘ _You want to leave me alone with her?????_ ’  
  
‘ _You’ll be okay_ ,’ Nino mentally answered. _‘… I think_.’  
  
Not noticing that he was still covering Alya’s mouth, Nino turned around. Suddenly he screamed, pulling his hands away as they got through the door. “Ow, why did you bite me?”  
  
“You tried to suffocate me,” Alya accused, slapping Nino again.  
  
“I’m sorry,” was the last part of the conversation that came through the closed door.  
  
  
As soon as the door closed everything fell silent. For once Adrien was unable to hear what happened outside. To his surprise, the sudden silence wasn’t comfortable. With eyes as big as saucers and his ears flattened to his head he looked at the girl right next to him.  
  
She was still staring at the door visibly lost in thoughts. Her arms still crossed in front of her chest and her breath still puffing. Then her hand shot up to nervously play with one of her pigtails. The words “my fault” and “stupid” escaped her almost breathless rambling before she took a deep breath and faced him. “Sit,” she demanded in a forced tone. Her body went straight as a board as she put up her façade.  
  
“Excuse me?” Even if Adrien was scared the words rolled easily off his tongue. ‘I’m a cat, not a dog!’  
  
Her hand waved in the direction of the couch. “I meant tosit down,” she repeated still in her forced tone. The way she acted wasn’t natural and Adrien could feel that.  
  
The couch in the corner welcomed Adrien with warmth. Leaning back he took the chance to further study the girl working in front of him. She was wearing a white cotton dress with a few strings of brown pearls around her chest and waist. The sleeves started in the middle of her upper arm, exposing a lot of cute freckles on her shoulders. The little beauty marks covered not only her shoulders but wandered over her chest up her neck and over the cheeks whose inner side she bit in concentration. She wore two ear studs in a ladybug design, each one with five black spots.  
  
Letting his eyes wander he noticed that she wasn’t wearing shoes and two freckles decorated her ankles right under the bracelet she wore around said ankle. A simple silver bracelet with the letters S, A, M and T attached to it.  
  
She clicked her tongue and stared at him. Adrien suddenly felt caught and tried to avoid looking at her. “Sorry,” he mumbled.  
  
The witch just hummed and shook her head. Then she pointed at his ears. “How did that even happen to you?”  
  
“A friend of mine got a book from your shop,” Adrien started, ignoring the fact that the witch started busying herself with herbs and other things while he talked. “My friends thought it would be a nice idea to summon a demon – I don’t know if it’s necessary for this but it was Astaroth, I think? – I told them that it’s a bad idea. That you don’t play with magic. They didn’t listen and – I ended up like this.” His face turned towards the ground as he spoke. “And the friend who got the book is probably possessed right now – she didn’t look normal when we left.” (Not that Chloé had ever looked normal, to begin with.)  
  
Humming once more the girl got back to whatever she was doing. “If she really is possessed by Astaroth she should be normal by tomorrow. He’s a high-classed demon and – without wanting to insult your stupid little friend – those kinds of demons aren’t after humans without influence,” she explained. “They want the ones which could cause wars. Chaos and power are what they want.”  
  
Adrien didn’t know what it was she was talking about and frankly, he didn’t care. He just wanted to be normal again. As long as Chloé and he would be back to their default state, he didn’t care what happened. “I think I haven’t introduced myself,” Adrien suddenly remembered when he wanted to address her, “my name is – ”  
  
Suddenly two hands covered in pepper and what smelled like paprika covered his mouth. “Stop right there, kitty,” the girl ordered. “That’s what got you in the whole mess. You don’t tell your name if messing with magic. Not your real name.” She removed her hands slowly as if to test if he would continue talking.  
  
“Oh,” was the only thing Adrien could respond. He did not understand why it was such a big deal if someone knew your name. His look seemed to be an open book.  
  
As if she had read his thoughts, her hand wandered up to her hair, combing through it. “It’s easy to get cursed if someone knows your name,” the witch explained. “Your name, your identity, is the most precious thing you have. That’s why everyone in the magic community uses a cover name.”  
Her fingers brushed the skin of her collarbones as she vaguely pointed at herself. “I for example go under the name L-Ladybug” For a second he could see the sadness in her eyes before she turned away. A sign that the conversation was over.  
  
Adrien could smell the salt of tears that had formed in her eyes but didn’t dare to say anything. Instead, he looked around the room. Ladybug – finally he had a name to connect with the fragile girl. “Ladybug,” he whispered only for himself to hear. The named rolled from his tongue in a comfortable way. Not that Nino or Alya would roll off different, but unlike their names Ladybug’s caused the cursed boy to purr. Somehow he couldn’t help but wonder what his name would be if he were part of the magic community.  
  
He didn’t know what it was but watching Ladybug work had something relaxing about it. The forced façade from earlier almost vanished completely as soon as she went into her element. A small smile decorated her face and she hummed a silent melody while turning around, grabbing more herbs. Standing on her tip toes Ladybug tried to reach for something on the shelf. In that moment she tripped over something and fell backward. As if she was used to falling the girl didn’t even pretend to try to save herself from falling down. She accepted her fate.  
  
Mama Agreste didn’t raise a rowdy. A witch in need was still a woman in need. His ears poked up. With catlike reflexes, Adrien gripped her by the waist and stopped her fall by pulling her close. Her head bumped against his chest. “Are you okay?”  
  
She looked up and for a second Adrien saw her façade fall. Shining blue eyes softened. He could read the silent thank you off her pink, soft lips before everything went back to the way she was before. Adrien immediately pulled his hand from her body and took a step back. “I’m sorry – I didn’t mean to –”  
  
“I-It’s okay,” she stammered, turning her back towards him. Ladybug’s sigh was loud enough for him to hear. “I’m sorry, I’m really, really clumsy. So clumsy that I got used to tripping over nothing.”  
  
Grabbing the item she was reaching for, Adrien lay a hand on her shoulder – it’s appropriate to touch someone’s shoulder, right? – and gave her the small box. “Here.”  
  
Ladybug jumped a little bit from his touch but accepted it. “Thank you, little kitten,” she mumbled biting her bottom lip.

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

“Alya,” Nino scolded, sitting down on one of the steps that lead to the door, “calm down, your ears are steaming.”  
  
“This girl is unbelievable!” Frustrated, Alya threw her phone in the grass in front of her. “What age does she think we live in?”  
  
“You’re just pissed because she threw us out,” Nino pointed out. “I am glad we’re out of there. She’s scary, man.”  
  
Taking back her phone, the girl started typing furiously until she threw it away once again to groan and hide her hands in her hair. “No connection! No Wifi! How does she even survive living like this?”  
  
Nino knew Alya long enough to know that she was just ranting because she was pissed off at the witch. “Alya…”  
  
The tanned girl swung her finger in the air. “Nu-uh, don’t Alya me,” she said. “I have a blog to run! My followers are waiting for me. I need to blog now or I won’t reach the Asian side of Tumblr! Time zones! FUCKING TIME ZONES!”  
  
“Alya,” Nino sighed for one last time before a branch thrown by said girl hit him.

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

Adrien may or may not have a thing for confident women who could kick his ass if they wanted to and Ladybug definitely was one of them. But thanks to his rotten luck her first impression of him would be that he sexually harassed one of her frogs. Now she would probably hate him or think he was a total freak. Great. Totally great.  
  
“I’m sorry for the frog-kissing,” he apologized and looked down just to see her bare feet again; silently wondering what the letters on her ankle could mean.  “I didn’t mean to – god, this is embarrassing.”  
  
She looked up from whatever she was pestling. “ _God_ is probably the wrong person to address in front of me – here, close your eyes,” she said softly, taking a bit of the brown powder out of the grinder. Adrien could hear her chuckle proudly as he did what she said. “Don’t worry, I’ve had worse first impressions.”  
  
The powder prickled on his skin as she blew the powder on his face. It seemed like his skin absorbed whatever it was the second it touched his pores. Nostrils blew wide as the smell hit him. Adrien gave a disgusted sound. “What the hell is that?”  
  
Upon seeing his face Ladybug started laughing to the point of holding her stomach. It took her a couple of minutes to calm down. “Well, Bloodroot to keep evil spirits out, Wild Fennel to protect you from other curses,” she explained counting on her fingers, ”grave compost, pepper to strengthen the spell – ”  
  
He didn’t know half of the herbs but they didn’t seem to explain the excruciating smell.  
  
“ – and dried cow dung,” Ladybug finished with a smirk as she turned around to put the flasks and grinder back into place.  
  
Yeah, that probably did the job. “Is that a usual ingredient for magic tricks?” he whined, rubbing his nose as if she flicked it. “Because if yes, I don’t like it.”  
  
“No, cow dung has nothing to do with potions and spells. That was just a personal addition from me.” He heard her breath hitch as cold water from the sink met her hands to clean off the left-over powder. “A little revenge for Plagg, little kitten.”  
  
With her hands still wet she pushed a stray strand of hair behind her ear and turned around – just to see that he had his eyes still closed. “You may open your eyes now.”  
  
Blue eyes met green ones as his lids fluttered open. Something in her eyes made him blush. She looked at him with a shy smile.  
  
“No human eye will see you as a kitten ever again,” Ladybug said proudly of herself. “That’ll work.”  
  
Adrien stood up and touched his head. No furry ears, even though it felt like they were still there. And the tail was gone too – at least he didn’t feel it anymore. “Thank you, Ladybug,” he exclaimed, hugging her out of instinct. A quick hug but still a hug. “Thank you so much.”  
  
The girl blushed and it wasn’t a soft blush. Ladybug blushed _hard_! Her wide blown eyes stared at his green ones just for a split second. Then her head turned to the ground and she started playing with her fingers.  
  
Adrien laughed awkwardly. How do you act after you just hugged a stranger whose pet you sexually harassed? A stranger who was a witch nonetheless? “I think I need to go now?” It was a statement but sounded like a question. Some part of him was hoping she would let him stay a little bit longer and explain more about her world to him. But she nodded and looked towards the door.  
  
“Chat Noir,” Ladybug said sternly, breaking the silence that hung between them. “If you were part of us your name would be Chat Noir.” A smile graced her lips as she led him to the door. Something in her smile told him ‘ _but you aren’t part of us’_.  
  
“Goodbye, Ladybug.”  
  
“You are the most interesting human I’ve ever met. It was nice meeting you, Chat Noir.” Ladybug nodded. “Farewell.”

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

Nino was the first one to hug Adrien, but the boy soon noticed that it was less of a hug but more of ‘using him as a shield against a raging Alya’. Adrien’s eyes wandered between Alya and Nino. “What is going on here?”  
  
“He said,” Alya began boiling with anger, “that I am an internet addict, which _I am not_! I’m just there for fun. I can stop anytime I want!”  
  
“No you can’t,” Nino protested, looking over Adrien’s protective shoulder. His head rubbed against the blonde hair. Then he noticed that something on the model’s head was missing. “DUDE,” he exclaimed, “Dude, you’re back to normal!”  
  
“Yes, I am, thank you for noticing, Nino. I needed to go back to normal. Otherwise, you would have killed each other and I’m not sure if she would’ve liked it.” Adrien sighed, running his hand through his hair. “Alya, take a deep breath, calm down and we’ll all go home? I don’t want to bother her more than necessary.”  
  
Suddenly all the anger changed into excitement. Alya hooked her arm with Adrien’s and stubbornly started walking; dragging Adrien and Nino behind. “Okay, we have about half an hour of walking and you’re going to tell me everything,” Alya announced happily. She held up her phone and opened the front camera without looking where she’s going. “Ready, set _, spill_!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since I'm a sucker for clothes - here are a few of [Marinette's outfits.](https://68.media.tumblr.com/a31b47befd366f9c1962871fe67f1d20/tumblr_o8z7p6IUTg1soj7ddo1_540.jpg)  
> I'm posting a lot of info and extra stuff for this fic on my tumblr, so you might wanna check out this fics tag on my tumblr.


	4. Schabernack

  
  
**Schabernack**

  
Adrien wasn’t a morning person by nature but his usually early photo shoots and fashion events had forced him to adopt the habit of waking up exactly to his alarm. However, this time, he overslept. The missing sleep from the previous night haunted him.  
  
At first, he didn’t recognize his alarm as his alarm ringing until his ears started hurting, fueling his building headache. Even though he was back to normal it still felt like his nose was more sensitive than before. The covers of his pillow smelled like washing powder and hairspray that probably had rubbed off the night before the sleepover. “Ugh.”  
  
His arm reached out to slap the noisy device, sending it flying across his room. Adrien instantly sat up and looked at his hand as if it had offended him. He didn’t mean to slap the poor device across his room. “Aftermath,” he murmured. It sure had to be the aftermath of what had happened to him. That would explain his sensitive sense of hearing and the fact that he could smell his breakfast being prepared on the other side of the mansion.  
  
Then it hit him, he was going to be late. Being late meant that his father would hear about it. If his father hears about him being too late to school, he would be back to being homeschooled within seconds. Adrien gathered his clothes in a rush, got dressed and brushed his hair before running down. No time for breakfast, Adrien decided. At least he remembered to text Nino to bring some coffee for later. Maybe it was for the better. His pants were too tight anyway. Maybe he had gained weight?  
  
With a loud “I’m out,” Adrien announced his leave. Sure, there was no-one to hear because Gabriel was a horrible dad and Nathalie was probably with him, but he felt safer doing it regardless. He met the Gorilla in the car. The bodyguard was probably the only person from the staff Adrien liked. The Gorilla was silent but cared for Adrien. He would listen to Adrien ranting after a hard day of modeling or school. Every once in a while, Adrien received a gentle pat on the shoulder from the huge man – the most comforting gesture he knew.  
  
“Adrien, your shirt,” the Gorilla grunted ten minutes into the drive, “it’s inside out.”  
  
“Oh.” In his rush, Adrien had forgotten to look into the mirror. Embarrassed, he changed his shirt and thanked his bodyguard.  
  
They reached school just in time. The bell rang and students ran into the building, Adrien right in the middle of them. When he entered the classroom Nino was already waiting for him, with coffee. “Here you go, buddy,” Nino said, shoving the paper cup over to Adrien.  
  
The first sip almost burned his tongue, which surprised him considering that the cup didn’t feel as hot. But Adrien enjoyed it nonetheless. The caffeine hit him almost instantly. “Thank you, Nino.”  
  
The teacher walked in and the class fell silent. Eventually, classes started and Adrien fell into a state between listening and falling asleep. His eyes wandered to the right where Chloé and Sabrina used to sit. Adrien silently cursed. He had totally forgotten about Chloé. Ladybug had said that the possession would wear off. Now that Chloé didn’t show up and Sabrina was missing too, Adrien started to worry. Sabrina and Chloé weren’t close – Chloé had never been the person that interacted with other people. But Sabrina worshiped Chloé and that pleased the girl. Who wouldn’t be pleased by someone who crawls up your ass until they can say “Hi” to you tonsils – except, well, everyone?   
  
The way Chloé treated Sabrina was horrible and Adrien had often tried to point that out but eventually gave up. Sabrina had always been kind to him and he pitied her for being used by Chloé. Not only used. On good days Sabrina was just being used, on bad days Chloé ignored her completely.  
  
“Hey, you okay? You’ve been spacing out.” Nino leaned over towards his best friend. “Buddy?”  
  
In the back of his neck, Adrien could also feel Alya’s worried stare. She leaned over to pat his shoulder when she was suddenly slammed down to the ground. For a moment every sound around them stopped. Mylene and Ivan stopped whispering and the teacher stopped dead in her track.  
  
Nino and Adrien jumped up. “God, Alya, are you alright?”  
  
“No,” she mumbled, rubbing her backside. “Someone _… something_ pushed me,” Alya accused louder.  
  
Everyone in class started giggling. Someone said something about Alya being clumsy and told her not to blame others for it. But Nino and especially Adrien knew better.  
  
_Tap._  
  
“Dude, I thought the supernatural shit was over,” Nino hissed towards Adrien, whose head whipped around.  
  
_Tap. Tap._  
  
Nino was thrown off his feet as soon as he came closer to Adrien.  
  
_Tap. Tap. Tap._  
  
What was that? It sounded like the tapping of bare feet on the ground. But no classmate of Adrien was moving. Did they even hear that? Someone was here and that someone was moving towards the door.  
  
Adrien ran a hand through his hair and noticed something odd. His hair had always been fluffy but what he touched was familiar fur! Fur that should have been gone since yesterday. When did his cat ears come back? And more importantly, WHY did they come back in the first place?  
  
“I… I need to go to the bathroom,” he blurted out and headed for the door, ducking his head in fear that he was about to transform back into a cat. Adrien cursed himself for not looking in the mirror before leaving the house. But now that he actually saw himself in the mirror of the boy’s bathroom he couldn’t see a thing despite feeling the fluffy ears.  
  
Adrien leaned forward closer to the mirror and then it happened. Just like back in the forest, you needed to blink a few times until the black appendages appeared in a blur. As if to prove that they were real they twitched in response to him gasping. Now that they were visible, he could hear even sharper than before. And he noticed that his pants weren’t too tight that morning because he gained weight, but because his tail was still there.  
  
Right now all of his senses were running wild. There was this smell of a human – a girl, he could now tell. Stressed and angry. “You, you,” the voice chanted. Adrien located it somewhere near the wall opposite of the door. ”It’s _always_ about you!”  
  
“Adrien, get down,” someone suddenly yelled. Adrien ducked down and from the corner of his eyes, he could see Juleka, Nino, and Rose, the girl who barely showed up to school, standing in the doorway. Clearly Rose had yelled and Adrien didn’t ask why there were girls in the boys’ bathroom in the first place.  
  
Now Adrien could see why. Someone attacked him, he felt a body roll over his and land on the ground. “What the –” He couldn’t even finish his question when the purple outlines of a butterfly suddenly appeared in the air. Moving as if they were glasses worn by someone.  
  
“No, Hawk Moth!” Again the voice seemed to come out of nowhere. “You promised I could take revenge on everyone who ignored me!” Silence. “But why not him? Why is everything about him?” Another silence. “You can’t take away my powers, _you promised_! Hawk Moth, you promised!”  
  
Slowly a transparent silhouette appeared. The magic surrounding the attacker slowly faded leaving behind a redheaded girl. Sabrina. As soon as Sabrina was fully visible, her eyes rolled back and she collapsed to the ground.  
  
Adrien stood there in shock, not really sure what to do while Rose and Juleka ran over to Sabrina. Had Sabrina been possessed?  Why did his life suddenly consist of ridiculous situations like this? Chloé’s possession, his curse, those cat tendencies, Sabrina… Adrien clearly did not sign up for all of this bad luck when he was born. His curse. Oh god, his curse! He needed to get out right now before anyone could see him. He needed to go to Ladybug.  
  
Footsteps announced that the rest of the class or probably the whole school were making their way to the bathroom. “I… I need to go,” Adrien stammered, “to a, um, photo shoot, yeah a photo shoot.” He passed Nino, grabbed his hat and ran off before Nino could say something. “I’m borrowing this, bro.” 

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

  
With every second inside the metro, Adrien got more uncomfortable. His shirt itched, his tail hurt and the general smell was just horrible. Was it considered rude if you cover your nose with your shirt just because that dude next to you smelled like he hadn’t washed in ages?  The train ride seemed a lot shorter than when he had first visited. Minutes turned into hours.  
  
As soon as the doors opened at Chaville Velizy, Adrien ran. For the second time, the conductors at the station witnessed a young boy running through the hall. This time, he didn’t destroy the door (at least, he hoped that he didn’t destroy it again). Adrien had to admit that he was amazed by how fast he could be. The walk usually lasted 27 to 30 minutes; he made it in less than ten.  
  
When the first trees showed at the beginning of the forest Adrien pulled off his shirt, hat and let out his tail, not caring about anyone seeing him. The abandoned clothes were safely hidden in a bush next to the main path. After a second he abandoned his shoes there too.  
  
An enhanced sense of smell came in handy when looking for a witch that knew how to hide. Something deep inside his chest told him he would be faster running on all fours, and guess what he did. The cat in him had awoken.  
  
By the time he reached the small shop Adrien had forgotten why he was there in the first place. The flowers behind the shop just smelled so good that he needed to check them out. They smelled spicy. His diet always provided food that was the direct opposite. A lot of bees buzzed around the plants. But Adrien promised them to not hurt their flowers. He just wanted to smell.  
  
Wiggling his butt and his tail, Adrien buried his nose in it. The bees ignored him, holding their distance. Excitement surrounded Adrien. He had read about nature, he had seen videos of nature, but this was the real deal. He wanted to roll on the ground and cover himself in dirt. Not only because the cat in him wanted him to, but because he had never been allowed to be a real kid and get dirty. There was so much to smell, so much to feel – so much to _live_!  
  
Happy purring filled the air as Adrien rolled onto his back and started friendlily batting some bees. A stupid grin decorated his face as he carelessly played.  
  
A chuckle interrupted his play session and he wasn’t happy about it. That wasn’t Ladybug’s chuckle. Glancing to the side he saw a boy with flaming red hair and a bunch of fabric in his arms standing next to the witch. “I never considered you to be a cat person, Ladybug.”  
  
“Oh, take your stuff and go, stupid!”

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

Chloé growled in disgust. “How could she do that?” Her feet kicked the boxes in the back of her closet where she was currently sitting. The box contained a few memories of her mother. “How could she dare attack my Adrikins?”  
  
“ _Sometimes things happen_ ,” Hawk Moth told her. “ _Emotions are stronger than you might think. And giving them great power sometimes gets to their head._ ”  
  
Chloé knew that all too well, but it still upset her that her first victim didn’t obey her orders. She bit her bottom lip. Of course, it was just natural that her experiment with Sabrina had gone wrong – she was still learning what she could do with her powers – but it still nagged her.  
  
“ _Don’t worry_ ,” Hawk Moth soothed her. “ _Your next victim will obey you_.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My boss called on surprise and now I have to go to our sister company for two weeks where I won't have an internet connection. So I won't be able to update until Friday the 15th. 
> 
> Don't miss me too much, children.  
> (I'll miss you)


	5. Of nicknames and trust issues

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adrien is totally getting a frog. He loves frogs.

 

 

**Chapter 5: Of nicknames and trust issues**

 

“Oh you’re kidding me, right?”  
  
Ladybug sighed, running a hand through her bangs. Right after she had found Adrien playing in her backyard she had shushed her customer away and dragged Adrien back into the shop. Now the poor boy was sitting on her couch once again with his heart beating so loud that he was sure Ladybug could hear it.  
  
Great, Agreste, first you kiss her frog and now she caught you rolling around in her garden pretty naked. You really live up to the whole black cat image.  
  
“Why aren’t they gone by now?” More talking to herself than to him, the girl gripped her hair and tugged on it. She ran over to him and started inspecting his head. Her fingers working on his hair and occasionally touching the base of his ears, which sent electric shivers down his spine. The way she leaned forward and the fact that she was wearing nothing more than a loose, brown dress which allowed a deep view certainly didn’t help the situation. “Good, the glamour is still intact. But still, why aren’t they gone by now?”  
  
Ladybug’s fingers lifted his head up so she could inspect his eyes, her face determined. “Is your friend back to normal?”  
  
His friend? Which – Oh god, Chloé. He had forgotten about her. “I… I don’t know,” Adrien admitted sheepishly. “I think not.”  
  
“That’s odd,” Ladybug murmured tapping her chin. “Astaroth should’ve left her by now.”  
  
“In fact, there is more trouble than before,” Adrien spoke up. “A girl from my class – today she was invisible and attacking my friends. I’m not sure if it’s relevant, but she kept on speaking to someone named Hawk Moth.”  
  
“ _Hawk Moth_?” A voice squeaked. Soon a red blur zipped out from a corner. A few seconds later Adrien could identify the little something as a creature with a head as big as a baseball, antennas, and a tiny little body. A black dot was located on her forehead, a little bit above her crystal blue eyes. It looked like a tiny Ladybug nestled in the hair of the girl he knew as Ladybug.  
  
“Tikki,” the witch accused, looking up. She was supposed to stay hidden once someone entered the shop. The small creature grinned back. “Nevermind, we’ll talk about that later – Do you know who that is?”  
  
The creature – Tikki – nodded enthusiastically. “He’s an ancient demon – almost as old as I am – dedicated to causing chaos,” Tikki explained. “There have been a few sightings of him during history and once he possesses a body, he is able to use his magic to turn others into – what would humans call it? – supervillains. He feeds off of their negative emotions.”  
  
“Is he –”  
  
“Yes, he’s **not** one of the higher ups and **that’s** what makes him dangerous.” Silently patting Ladybug’s head, Tikki’s voice darkened. “And if it really is Hawk Moth then the possession won’t ‘wear off’.”  
  
Once again Ladybug ran a hand through her hair, forcing Tikki to fly up and float in front of her face. “Do you know how we can break the possession?”  
  
Tikki nodded hesitantly. “I have an idea.”  
  
Ladybug bit her lower lip, lost in deep thoughts until Adrien cleared his throat. “Excuse me,” he said causing Ladybug to shriek. Adrien pointed at Tikki, not able to hold back that question. “What is that?”  
  
Tikki’s antennas perked up. She floated down until she was right in front of his face and flashed him a smile. “I have gone through many different names, Enki, Lord Izanagi, Num – but right now I am Tikki,” she said sweetly. “I am a spirit – a god of creation and Plagg’s other half. We’ve supported Ladybug’s family for years.” Upon seeing Adrien’s face the small god knew he didn’t understand a single thing she just said. Smiling, she patted his cheek. “Don’t worry, you’ll learn more about the members of our world in the future.”  
  
Ladybug shot her a hard glare. “No, he won’t.”  
  
“Yes, he will,” another, much darker voice interrupted.  
  
“Great,” Ladybug sighed again, walking to the place Adrien recognized as the place where the frogs were hidden. “Now you decide to jump in too, Plagg?”  
  
Ignoring the girl, Plagg jumped out of the terrarium, hopping onto the next best desk until he was near Adrien. “If you want to defeat Hawk Moth, You’ll need to work together. The boy here knows who the possessed person is, that’s a big plus.” The frog turned to Ladybug. “And you know how to cleanse demons. The classmate of his won’t be the last person to be – as we call it – akumatized.”  
  
“A frog…” He couldn’t believe it. “A talking frog…”  
  
“The name’s Plagg,” the frog rebuked harshly. “God of destruction – and I am _not_ a frog!”  
  
“Not a frog,” Adrien mumbled. Okay, he was definitely going crazy. He heard the other people in the room mumble but was lost in his own worries. “Gods…”

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

Adrien couldn’t tell how long he had sat there desperately trying to get a hang on what they had told him. Somewhere in-between the red god had taken place in his hair, rubbing his scalp comfortingly. He almost jumped when he faced blue eyes right in front of him. First Ladybug’s lips moved but he was too busy thinking to hear what she was saying. “What?”  
  
She smiled nicely and held up a kettle. “Do you want some tea?”  
  
When had she made tea? How long had he been spacing out? Adrien nodded.  
  
She poured the tea into a mug and he watched her. Simply watching her had something calming about it. “I can only imagine, it’s a lot to take in for a day,” she said giving him his mug and taking one for herself. “Feel free to ask if you have questions.”  
  
“Why is Plagg a frog?” Was the first thing that came to his mind.  
  
Ladybug blushed some and looked away. “I’m not a fully trained witch yet. My grandmother died before she could finish my training,” she started. “I already told you I’m a little bit clumsy.” Embarrassed, she turned her back towards him. “When I was younger I accidentally turned him into a frog and I haven’t found out how to turn him back since.”  
  
She was clumsy. She did indeed have faults. Adrien chuckled and eventually the chuckle turned into full blown laughter once Ladybug joined him.  
  
That was… different from their first meeting. She seemed nicer and natural. She had such a lovely smile. “Why the sudden change?” he asked rather bluntly. “Why are you suddenly so nice to me?”  
  
First, her eyebrow shot up before she sighed again. “You’re different from what I expected,” Ladybug admitted sitting down beside him and pulling her feet onto the couch. “I grew up believing that humans are… different. Evil creatures. But you are so… so nice.” Silently inspecting her cup, she leaned back against the cushion. “I figured out we’ll work together in the future. Therefore I need to trust you as well as you need to trust me – the real me.”  
  
Adrien felt flattered. Slightly blushing, he looked down at his own tea. “You should be yourself more often; it suits you.”  
  
She blushed up to the tips of her ears. “Thank you, I’m working on it.” For a while she fiddled with her mug, avoiding him entirely. Adrien knew that she wanted to say something by the way her bottom lip quivered. “May I ask you something?”  
  
“Whatever you want, Ladybug.”  
  
“I know it’s a strange question but,” she slid closer to him which didn’t help with his already too fast heartbeat, “Can I see you teeth?”  
  
For a moment Adrien didn’t know what to say. The request was indeed strange but who was he to decline it? Placing the mug on the shelf he turned towards her. His open mouth was answer enough for her.  
  
Her fingers touched his chin, opening his mouth just a little bit further. Adrien gulped – well as much as he could. Ladybug was so close to him that she could feel his breath. Adrien was glad that she had made mint tea so his breath wouldn’t smell like an elephant from behind. But considering that she had used cow dung on him before without making a face told him that Ladybug was used to odd smells.  
  
One of her fingers traced his teeth, shortly stopping on his sharp canines before she leaned back. “Except for the fangs they’re the same as mine,” he heard her mumble.  
  
“Why would mine be different?” Adrien tilted his head curiously.  
  
Leaning back Ladybug grabbed her mug and nipped the liquid. “Grandmother used to tell me that humans had monstrous teeth hidden behind their smile.”  
  
“Well, that’s bullshit.”  
  
“Excuse me?”  
  
Adrien internally cursed. Since he had transformed into a human-cat-hybrid his usual filter had disappeared. He said what he thought. “I mean, I’m not different from you – except that you’re a witch – I’m a teenager just like you. No offense but I think your grandma told you a lot of lies. Humans aren’t monsters. What you mentioned when I first visited, about humans killing witches, that was hundreds of years ago,” Adrien reasoned, gesticulating with his arms. “Actually most of us like the idea of a magic world. We even have a whole book series dedicated to witches and wizards. It’s called Harry Po– I’m rambling again, aren’t I?”  
  
Ladybug lifted her hand to hide her chuckle. She couldn’t admit that his rambling was cute… yet. “I can’t believe that,” she laughed. “But maybe someday you can show me how humans really are, _Chat Noir_.”  
  
“Yeah, someday, my Lady,” Adrien grinned back.  
  
The nickname caused her to choke on her tea. “What did you call me?” she asked between coughing.  
  
“My Lady?” Was that too much? Did he overdo it? Actually, he had a lot more nicknames he wanted to call her – Bugaboo, Bugprincess, Princess were high on the list – but he couldn’t call her all of them at once. “I’m sorry, I should’ve asked. It’s just… I wanted to give you a nickname no one else knows about? I’m not sure why, though.”  
  
Ladybug placed a hand in his hair and ruffled it, forcing out an upset squeak from the boy. “It’s okay, kitty.”

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

They sat there for an hour or so, chatting and drinking tea. Tikki and Plagg served them with more information on Hawk Moth. Well, actually Tikki served them with information while Plagg just complained about wanting cheese. Adrien learned that not-frog-god was a lazy being that only cared about food. Tikki, on the other hand, was sweet and caring.  
  
‘I guess they’re really like Yin and Yang,’ Adrien realized with a smile. It was great knowing that Ladybug didn’t dislike him because he had kissed Plagg. She’d just been scared. And now she started opening up to him.  
  
Additionally, Adrien got to know that Ladybug had no clue what a mobile phone is. He had to explain its use several times before she finally understood. That’s when the question of how she got the orders for her shop came up. Usually, witches or their familiars showed up in her shop – mostly their familiars because the witches were too busy. Sometimes a crow or a cat would walk right into her shop and either order with words or had a letter. Ladybug told him that witches weren’t the only customers she had. Sometimes fairies would turn up, like the one he had seen earlier, to buy her self-made clothes or seeds. Also that there were one or two vampires which showed up to buy a few frogs as snacks or had other requests like rituals or special weapons. Surprisingly, for such a petite girl she had a lot of dangerous weapons.   
  
“What?” Adrien almost yelled, folding his hands in his lap. “You’ve never seen the Eiffel Tower?”  
  
Shaking her head, Ladybug collected the mugs and put them on a tray.  
  
“Oh come on, my Lady, I understand the whole ‘I live in the forest’-thing you’ve got going but that’s the Frenchiest thing here in Paris and you haven’t seen it?” Adrien leaned forward, staring at his lady in surprise. “Don’t you ever go out?”  
  
Her hands landed on her hips as she stood in front of him. “Of course, I go out,” Ladybug declared offended. “Just not to places humans go, you should’ve understood by now, Chat.”  
  
Adrien lowered his head.  
  
“But we could go together, you could show me.”  
  
Was she joking again? Adrien couldn’t tell so he laughed sarcastically. “How would we even get there without meeting humans?” When he looked up again, he noticed something in her hand. A broomstick. Oh goddamn, how cliché was that? “First, you’re proving me wrong in what movies taught me and now we’re getting back to the cliché?”  
  
“Well, I usually prefer traveling with my yo-yo,” – she held up a red yo-yo with five black spots on it before shoving it back into the pockets of her dress. – “but since we’re two, I think this would be more suitable.”  
  
“You’re not kitten me?” His whole face lightened up in joy. “But what if someone sees us?”  
  
Ladybug held out her hand to help him up. “Don’t worry, kitty,” she grinned. “As I said before, your glamour is still intact if we were to meet humans, and I … well, that’s a special secret but let me tell you: As long as we’re flying no one should be able to see the two of us,” Ladybug explained, walking towards the door with Plagg on her shoulder. Tikki was sound asleep in Adrien’s hair.  
  
“He should get dressed first,” Plagg suggested looking at Adrien, who just noticed his lack of clothing. “Why did you come here half naked anyways?”  
  
“I, um, my clothes,” the model stuttered, “they itched so I… took them off?”  
  
Turning around while walking, Ladybug ran the opposite direction of the door. “Give me a second,” she said before disappearing in what Adrien assumed were her private rooms. She came back a few minutes later with a simple, black shirt. “I heard human fabric is mixed with chemicals, so your skin probably reacts to it. Try this.” Throwing the shirt, it landed on his shoulder, barely missing the sleeping Tikki. “I’m not sure if it fits you but my fabric usually is werebeast-friendly.”  
  
“Werebeast,” Adrien asked, carefully pulling the fabric over his head without waking up the small god. The shirt felt different. It was soft and managed to let his skin breathe. And the best part was that it smelled just like her. He’d never wash this shirt, or take it off for that matter. He would die in this shirt and be buried in it – maybe he was developing a tiny smell fetish. “Like a werewolf? Don’t tell me those exist too.”  
  
“They do,” Ladybug confirmed, leading them outside before closing the shop’s door. Adrien watched in amazement as she lay the broom into the air and it simply floated. “I wouldn’t consider you a real werebeast, since your transformation isn’t connected to specific changes in nature, but werebeast is the closest name for the state you’re in.” Lifting one leg she climbed onto the broom, gesturing towards Adrien to do the same. “Come one, kitty cat.”  
  
“Sure, I’m coming.”

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

“Are you sure it’s safe for two people to ride on a broom, Bugaboo?” Adrien yelled against the cold air that whipped in his face. Ladybug wasn’t a safe driver – or flyer? – judging by the speed they were going. Even Tikki knew that and hid inside Adrien’s collar. “Because there are a few turbulences that are very fur-ightening.”  
  
“Actually, we’re two people and two gods, but yes, I am sure it’s safe,” Ladybug had to yell against the sound of the wind. “You’re not the first one to fly with me and by far not the heaviest.”  
  
“If you say so,” he grumbled. Adrien knew he was lighter than most of the guys and the girls his age and it bothered him. Usually, boys his age had at least a little bit of muscles and weren’t running on a diet stricter than my conservative mother. “You see that tower over there, that’s where we need to go.”  
  
“Understood,” the girl answered, leaning her weight to the side and flying a soft curve. “Hold on tight, kitty.”  
  
So he did. His hands lay on her hips and as soon as their direction changed, he gripped her tight. This was crazy, ridiculous even. They were flying on a broomstick, a goddamn broomstick. If they were about to fall, they would die, judging by the height they were.

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

When Ladybug said she’d take them to the Eiffel Tower Adrien hadn’t expected this. They were sitting on the metal beam at the highest point of the Eiffel Tower and watched the city. The setting sun slowly tinted everything in a bright orange-red. Surprisingly Adrien wasn’t as afraid of heights as he’d expected. He assumed that with changing to a cat he had adapted a secret passion for heights. It wasn’t hard for him to hold his balance.  
  
“And?” Adrien asked, stretching the ‘a’ excitedly. His back was against the metal and his eyes focused on the girl in front of him.  
  
Ladybug just sat there and watched the horizon. “It’s beautiful,” she said after a few minutes. Several cars honked on a street nearby. “But it’s noisy.”  
  
Adrien nodded. “That’s certainly a disadvantage of living in the city,” he admitted, letting the back of his head meet the metal. His gaze wandered to the sky just to spot the hint of a star. “I’ve never noticed it before. I guess I’ve grown used to it.”  
  
She hummed and did the same.  
  
“What’s a glitter?”  
  
“Hm?”  
  
“A glitter,” Adrien repeated. “You said that before, like my ‘glitter is still intact’.”  
  
Ladybug chuckled. “ _Glamour_ ,” she corrected him. “Almost everyone in our world uses it, vampires, witches, werebeasts – not fairies, they have their own glamour, though. It’s the easiest kind of magic.”  
  
Adrien nodded. “And it hides things?”  
  
“Exactly, but it can work different ways.” The witch shot him a smile. “Yesterday I used a glamour that hides your features from the eyes of people who don’t know about your condition. It worked on your friends as well because they believed I could help you – it even worked on you because you believed the same. I have been able to see them all the time. But there are certain glamour that hide things entirely.”  
  
“Like your house?”  
  
“Yes, Chaton.” She pointed to the broom that lay on the beam so it touched both of their feet. “My broom has a special glamour that hides everyone who touches it. That’s the strongest kind of glamour that exists because even though you know I’m flying right in front of you, you wouldn’t know I’m there. At least not without years of training.”  
  
Adrien tapped his chin thoughtfully. Maybe Sabrina had been under that kind of glamour? But that wouldn’t explain the violet butterfly and her sudden change in behavior. “Is there any way I can learn to look through a glamour?”  
  
“Not without a lot of training but we could try.” Nodding to herself Ladybug reached for her broom. She pulled it away so he lost touch with it. As soon as he lost the contact Ladybug disappeared. “You know where I am, right?”  
  
Adrien nodded.  
  
“Now look closely, maybe blink a few times,” Ladybug’s voice explained. “Concentrate.”  
  
And that’s what he did. Every nerve of his body was alive. At first, he didn’t notice anything but soon a blurry outline became visible. Just the outline nothing more. “I can see your silhouette.”  
  
“And that’s great progress,” Ladybug smiled. “You might not be able to look through my glamour but now you know how to recognize it.”  
  
Somewhere down below Adrien heard a woman scream “Honey, look there’s a boy!” Looking down he saw her pointing at him. Ladybug acted quickly. She put the broom back into place so it touched them again. With his sensitive ears, Adrien heard the woman gasp in shock. Her husband turned around and gave her a disappointed look. “I swear, I’ve seen a boy!”  
  
With his heart beating to his ears Adrien put a hand on the broom just to be sure he was safely hidden. “Remind me to not let you do this again when we’re in public.”  
  
“Noted,” she said, placing her chin on her knees. She watched him. Maybe she thought he wouldn’t notice but he did. Suddenly Ladybug tensed. “Oh, I almost forgot, your glamour can wear off. We need to re-do it on a regular basis.”  
  
“Oh, okay,” Adrien said. “I’m a model so my schedule is really tight but I could sneak out at night.”  
  
“It needs to be at least once a week,” Ladybug tapped her fingers against each other. “But just to be safe I’d suggest every three days? We don’t need to hang out, I could just prepare it and we’d be finished in less than twenty minutes –”  
  
“No,” again Adrien leaned forward, meeting her with a determined look. “Every three days is okay, I can make that work. I _lov_ \- like to hang out with you; you’re cute and smart and…. Maybe you could teach me some more things about magic.”  
  
“Yeah, sure,” she said hesitantly.  
  
Once again Adrien looked to the sunset. It must’ve gotten pretty late. Nino must be worried sick about him (and his cap). Ladybug, who had orders to finish, offered to drop him off near his house – of course, he respected her wish to keep their identities secret so he let her drop him off a few streets away from his house. They stood awkwardly in front of each other. Just a few hours ago they had been nothing more than strangers and now they were assigned to be partners on the mission to exorcise Hawk Moth out of Chloé. Speaking of which…  
  
“Uhm, how do I contact you if Hawk Moth uses someone again?” The model nervously rubbed the back of his neck.  
  
“Right, Hawk Moth,” Ladybug said tipping her chin. Her eyes wandered around and Adrien knew that a mobile phone wouldn’t be an option. “Ah,” a thought struck her. Her hand wandered to her neck and grabbed Plagg who complained with a groan, “I’ll leave Plagg with you. He and Tikki are connected to each other.”  
  
“You make it sound like I’m an owl…”  
  
‘Why can’t I get Tikki?’ Adrien couldn’t help but feel the desire to get the cute red god.  
  
Pressing the frog in his hands Ladybug gave him an enthusiastic smile and climbed on her broom. “He just needs a bit of cheese once in a while. We can look for another way if you come visit me next time. For now, this has to work.”  
  
“O-Okay,” he said but it was already too late. The girl zipped away and left him alone with a frog that wasn’t a frog.  
  
“You’re not going to kiss me again, are you?”  
  
Adrien’s groan could be heard within a radius of 50 miles. Not two seconds alone and he already hated his new companion.

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

The blue haired girl leaned back on the couch, her head meeting the pillow with a thud. She had finished three orders and still had two to go. Tikki cuddled her cheek, her soft paws patting the skin. “I’m so glad you made a friend, Marinette.”  
  
“Tikki,” Ladybug – born under the name Marinette – accused the small god, closing her eyes in exhaustion. She wasn’t going to have that conversation. Not right now. “We’re not friends yet… I think… For now, we’re – partners?”  
  
Rubbing her nose against the pillow, Marinette inhaled the smell that stuck to it. Herbs, soap and maybe a little bit of Chat stuck to it. Ever since her grandmother passed away and she took over the shop under her name, Marinette had grown distant to almost everyone.  
  
For more than a quarter of a year she had shut herself off and forgot how to act around people. She’d re-opened the shop just recently and was now trying to catch up all the missed orders or orders her grandmother hadn’t managed to finish.  
  
Her death had been horrible. Betrayal was never nice. The old Ladybug had trusted another witch she considered her friend with her name. Both planned on working together since both owned a shop. But the other witch had other intentions. Soon her grandmother died because the other witch cursed her. For weeks Marinette had to see her grandmother getting haunted by her own demons before her heart suddenly stopped working. What could be worse than that? The other witch was someone Marinette knew because she was part of her grandmother’s coven – but that’s another story that will be revealed when the time is right.  
  
No wonder the young Ladybug had trust issues.  
  
She was lost in her thoughts as she started to feel just how tired she really was. “I just don’t know if I can trust him yet,” Marinette mumbled. “I don’t know if I can trust anyone.” Pressing her face into the pillow and wandering off into a slumber.  
  
“Don’t worry,” Tikki said, stroking the small girl’s cheek. “I’m sure he’ll show you how to trust.” Red sparkles surrounded her paws as she worked her own magic. “But for now, sleep.”

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

While getting ready for bed Adrien noticed that he still had her shirt on, which meant that his clothes were still in the forest – which also meant that Nino’s cap was still with his clothes. Adrien made a mental note to buy Nino a new one. No. Scratch that. He’d buy Nino a whole cap-shop.  
  
And he’d buy some fabric that wasn’t mixed with chemicals. After all, he practically stole the shirt from her. Judging from the fact that she made her own clothes, Adrien assumed she would be really happy about more fabric. Maybe she’d make him a few more clothes to wear and maybe she’d like him even more. Money had never been an issue for Adrien after all.  
  
“Hey, I’m hungry,” Plagg complained from his spot on Adrien’s desk.  
  
The toothbrush still in the corner of his mouth Adrien stepped out of the bathroom. “What do you want?”  
  
“Camembert as big as that cheese wheel in the sky,” the frog explained, pointing at the moon.  
  
Adrien sighed. Why did that bastard of a god have to go for the smelliest cheese in all of Paris? “Sorry to burst your bubble but that’s the moon and as far as I know it’s not made out of cheese.”  
  
“It looks like cheese. It’s beautiful so frankly, I don’t care,” Plagg rebuked. “And I’m starving.”  
  
“I’m going to get you some,” Adrien finally gave in. As he sneaked down to the kitchen he thought about how to explain the missing cheese to his dietician. The smell of foul cheese was even harder to ignore when you sprouted cat senses. Soon his thoughts drifted to living together with the small god. Should he buy Plagg a tank? Or a fish bowl with a little house in it? Where do frogs live again? Adrien was sure that he still had some old Polly Pocket houses from Chloé somewhere in his closet. Who knows, maybe Plagg enjoys living in a pink house formed like an apple?

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess who's back from her trip! (And guess who's forced to go back to no-internet-hell for another week in August!)  
> Meanwhile, I started my Marinette cosplay and to be honest I'm rocking it! I can't wait to show it to you guys. I missed all of you so so much. 
> 
>  
> 
> Next up: Who's ready for Marinette's past?


	6. Alice, Sabine and Marinette

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some people wanted a background story, so tragic background stories for everyone. *throws confetti and childhoods full of sadness*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for taking almost a month to update. I've been away to 'no-internet-hell' again and then I went to Germany's biggest convention where I met my personal Chat, I started with my Ladybug cosplay and yeah.. purr-etty stressful. 
> 
> But I'm back! Now enjoy, my children!

 

 

**Chapter 6: Alice, Sabine and Marinette**

  
There were a lot of things Ladybug hated about humans. Most of her hatred came from her grandma, the previous Ladybug. She had spent most of her young life with her grandma. Ladybug had been born under the name Marinette. Her mother, Sabine, had been a witch just like her mother, Alice.  
  
Sabine grew up in the shop of her mother which was first located in China and was moved to Paris when Sabine was eleven. China was getting more and more populated and thus meant that nature was growing rare.  
  
Alice, going under the name Ladybug, raised her to be a beautiful witch. But the young girl was drawn towards the human world. They were new and interesting and – this was the most important part for the rebelling teenager – her mother despised them. Sabine could think Alice had hated the humans for what they’d done to their magical ancestors. The blue haired girl grew up with horror stories about blood and murder. Telling Sabine that humans were born as little monsters with sharp teeth and when they grow up they learn to hide it behind an innocent surface.  
  
But Sabine couldn’t truly believe it. When she first met Tom, a young man jogging in the park, she was scared. Tom was taller than her and had built up a lot of muscles. He could’ve lifted her with his pinkie if he wanted to. Even though her first human encounter was intimidating, Sabine learned that Tom wasn’t as scary as he seemed to be; He didn’t look like he wanted to hurt her and his teeth were just the same as hers.  
  
That’s when Sabine started doubting her mother and that’s when their regular fights began. Eventually, Sabine started meeting Tom in secret as the young man took an interest in her as well. They had their fair share of ‘dates’ before she decided to tell him what she was – up to that point he just thought she was a strange girl living in the woods. Tom took it surprisingly well. After nine months of dating, Sabine became pregnant with Marinette and she decided to tell her mother once she started showing.  
  
Long story short: After a whole month of arguing with her mother, Sabine was told to cut off contact with Tom. I do not need to mention that Sabine, smart as she is, pretended to accept that and continued seeing Tom in secret – they even ran off and got married after Marinette was born behind Alice’s back.  
  
It wasn’t until Marinette was five years old when her Alice got to know about it.

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

“Mother, I want to leave the forest and live with T-… Mari’s father,” Sabine had said one day. Her hands were clenched into fists at her sides.  
  
Alice looked up from her kettle, eyebrows furrowed. Knowing this was a discussion only meant for adult’s ears, she patted young Marinette’s back and ordered her to play outside. “So, you’re still seeing” – she tipped her chin with her index finger and pretended to be thinking before managing to spit out “ _him_ ” in her most disgusted voice.  
  
“Yes,” Sabine confirmed.  
  
“And you, _my_ little bee, want to live with him?”  
  
“Yes.” Sabine nodded twice for good measure. “Mari and I will live with him.”  
  
“You won’t.” Alice didn’t even give her daughter any chance to object. That was an order. “You are going to take over this shop once I’m gone. Your place is beside me and not next to a _human…_ neither is Marinette’s for that matter.” Even though the old woman remained calm, only Sabine could hear the anger sleeping in her voice.  
  
A loud sound interrupted Ladybug as Sabine slammed her hand on the table. “Enough!” Her first emotional outburst in front of her mother. “You are wrong. You are telling lies, Mother. Humans aren’t like that at all; they’re kind and full of love. Humanity has changed, there are even witches living with them.”  
  
“Traitors. A disgrace to our kind.”  
  
“Moth–”  
  
“Look at you,” Alice suddenly yelled out. “He blinded you. He _cursed_ you. Humans are dangerous.”  
  
Blinking, Sabine took a couple of seconds to collect herself. “No, Mother, I am not blind or cursed,” Sabine hissed through gritted teeth. “In fact, now that I see you, I think my vision is clearer than it had ever been. I am not the one who is cursed with blindness, you are. Your hate blinds you, Mother, and I won’t tolerate you ruining my child with your hate.”  
  
For a while, both witches glared at each other. The nerves in Ladybug’s brain needed to comprehend that her own daughter was threatening her to take away her grandchild. _Her_ talented little witch. _Her_ obedient little student unlike her own daughter. The kid she _loved_.  
  
Sabine had already started packing her belongings in the suitcase Tom had bought for her. The first thing she packed were her own and Marinette’s clothes that took up most of the space. It was followed by a red yoyo and several different crystals. Sabine gave a longing look to her broomstick and it flew into her hand.  
  
“You do whatever you want,” Alice eventually said, “but you’re not taking away Marinette.”  
  
“Marinette is my daughter,” Sabine reasoned. Of course, her daughter was going with her.  
  
“She is my granddaughter, student, and successor. She is _my_ little Ladybug.”  
  
“I’m not going to discuss this topic with you, Mother,” Sabine said shaking her head as she folded the cotton fabric with small stars that Marinette had stitched. “Mari is my daughter, she’s coming with me. End of the discussion.”  
  
Biting the inside of her cheeks, Alice grumbled a few insults. Then an idea popped up. _“Why don’t we let Marinette decide?”_

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

Of course, the young witch wasn’t able to understand what they wanted from her. How could she? She only counted five years. So when her mother and grandmother approached her, Marinette reacted with confusion. “Mommy, if we go live with Daddy what about Grandmother Ladybug?”  
  
“We’ll visit her –”  
  
“No, Sabine,” Alice interrupted. “You either choose the human world or your family.”  
  
Marinette’s eyes grew big. “We’ll leave Grandma alone?” Tears formed in the corners of her eyes. “I don’t want her to be alone. What about Nath and Roro? I don’t want to leave them.”  
  
Alice crouched down and hugged the now crying mess called Marinette; smirking a little at how well her games played out. “Shhh, little ladybug,” she cooed, patting the blue hair.  
  
Sniffing, Marinette looked up at her mother whose hands were trembling. “Mommy, if you stay with Daddy, I could stay with Granny,” the kid suggested, not understanding the importance of her words. “So she wouldn’t be alone and you could visit us with Daddy, right Granny?”  
  
“Of course, my little bug,” the women said behind the kid’s back. But Marinette couldn’t see the woman shake her head, threading her daughter. “You decide,” she hissed towards Sabine. “It’s either her or that human.”

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

Even if it sounds cruel, Sabine made her decision; against her daughter and for the man she loved. But don’t judge her too early. Marinette played a huge part in that decision. The kid insisted that her mother would live with her father; promising her that she wouldn’t mind living with Alice. After all, Marinette thought that her parents could visit her anytime.  
  
Sabine chose Tom for three reasons:  
First of all, because Marinette wanted it and Sabine respected her daughter’s wishes above all.  
Second of all, because living with Alice would mean that neither Sabine nor Marinette would be able to ever see Tom again. Alice would probably hunt him down as soon as possible without Sabine even noticing.  
Third of all, because she hoped that someday Marinette would realize what kind of woman her grandmother really was. Only Marinette could decide to leave the forest and Sabine was sure that the time would come when her daughter decided to do so. Marinette shared her blood, after all. And if that time ever comes, Sabine would welcome her _, together with her father_.  
  
For now, all,she could do was wait.  


Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

In a bakery near the Eiffel Tower, an elderly woman set down the yellowish Polaroid of a man and a little child with pigtails. Ten years had gone by since she’d seen her daughter. Ten years in which Sabine had waited for her daughter.  
  
“Honey, could you help me out in the kitchen? I need more flour,” Tom’s voice reached her from the doorway.  
  
Quickly Sabine put the picture in a rusty metal box, together with some crystals she’d kept from her previous life as a full-time witch. “Coming,” she answered with a kind smile. “In a second.”  
  
She put back the box in the closet next to the broom she had kept for the memories. She wiped away the small tears that had formed in the corners of her eyes with the ball of her hand as she followed her husband. There hasn’t been a single day she hadn’t thought about her daughter.

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

_“You know I love you, Marinette! Don’t you ever forget that!”_

Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ  Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ

It was almost midday when Marinette awoke from her slumber, the taste of her dream still on the tip of her tongue. A growling stomach forced her to open her eyes and groan. When her hand reached up to run through her bangs she noticed the wetness on her cheeks.  
  
“You’ve cried,” Tikki confirmed her suspicions. “Mornin’ Marinette.”  
  
“I’ve dreamed about my Mom.” Looking down at her hands, Marinette tried to remember just what she had dreamed. Scenes of the last time she saw her mother flashed before her eyes, combined with her mother’s last words.  
  
She had never seen her again after that. Now that she was older, Marinette knew what the expression in her mother’s eyes had been: sadness.  
  
It was also weird that Marinette couldn’t recall what her father looked like. Marinette’s hands clenched into fists as she fought tears. Her grandmother had told her, her mother left because of a human. That she chose a human above her and that the same human cursed her with blindness.  
  
‘Not every human is bad’ that’s what Chat had tried to tell her and Marinette couldn’t deny that – Chat wasn’t a bad person. But she shouldn’t get her hopes up. Exceptions prove the rule after all. Getting up, Marinette pushed her dream away, replacing it with enthusiasm to greet a new day. She would be okay. She doesn’t need her mother or her grandmother. She was capable of leading the shop on her own.  
  
By now her mother had probably forgotten about her anyway.


End file.
